NAJAF, Iraq — U.S. officials embraced a peace plan here Thursday offered by fundamentalist cleric Muqtada Sadr, raising hopes for an end to weeks of fighting between his militia and American troops that has left several hundred dead and damaged Islamic shrines.
Sadr, whose Al Mahdi militia seized control of key parts of Najaf last month, unveiled a four-point proposal brokered by moderate Shiite leaders that calls for him to relinquish control of government buildings and send some of his armed followers home.
In return, U.S. forces would pull back to a few small bases in Najaf and the neighboring city of Kufa, and would be gradually replaced by Iraqi police.
Decisions about the future of the militia and whether Sadr would have to surrender to face criminal charges that he plotted the slaying of a rival would be made later by Shiite Muslim leaders, not by the United States.
"This is happy news to save the blood of our people and a victory for the forces of democracy," said Mouwafak Rabii, Iraq's national security advisor, who helped draft the plan.
The tentative peace deal represents a significant compromise for the United States, which amassed 2,000 troops outside Najaf in April with the stated objectives of "killing or capturing" Sadr and "crushing" his militia.
Since then, Sadr's militia has led a string of deadly Shiite rebellions throughout southern Iraq and in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, fomenting anti-Americanism and challenging the view that the U.S.-led occupation was on track.
If accepted, the plan would allow Sadr to remain free in Najaf for the time being and clear the way for him to transform his militia into a legitimate political party.
It is the second time in recent weeks that U.S. officials have found it necessary to step back from their original aims in order to end bloodshed.
In the battle over the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Fallouja, U.S. officials dropped demands that insurgents there be "pacified" and surprised many by pulling out of the city and handing over authority to a former general in Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's army. U.S. troops had entered Fallouja after the killings and mutilations of four American civilian contractors. As in Najaf, the fighting left many Iraqi civilians dead.
The cease-fire has held since May 3, but it came at a political price. Many Iraqis, including Shiite leaders, criticized the United States for turning to the same former Baathist Party officials whom it once condemned.
